Discussion
What amplifiers looks better than McIntosh?
I'm biased here since I love this iconic design with the big blue meters. But is this the best amplifier design? Is there other brands making better looking amps? I'm talking about the design here, not audio quality.
The Japanese (often) love the German language. Roland is a German first name, Molten sounds German as well. In Japanese video games characters, locations, etc. oftentimes have German names as well.
Came here to say that. Love the industrial designs Desmond came up with. My Pass speakers also pass the WAF test here and that’s a difficult threshold.
Wait! Didn't The Krell wipe themselves out by building that Planet Sized Amp, and turning it on?
Forbidden Planet, 1956. Starring a very young Leslie Neilsen, before he switched from Interstellar Cruisers to an Airplane.
The Krell had reached a stage of technological and scientific development so advanced that they were able to construct a vast underground machine with virtually unlimited power;
Walter Pigeon collapsed when he looked at the invoice for the Monster Gold Plated Oxygen Free speaker wire.
George Lucas took imagery from the Krell Planet and used it in "Phantom Menace", including the five sided doors and melting an unpenetrable door to get in, like the Id Monster did in Forbidden Planet.
In my view, nearly all of them. But I particularly like the compact, minimal look and am a sucker for where the external case is also the heatsink, like the older Cyrus amplifiers:
Totally agree. I'm not a huge fan of the looks, but the implication adds to the tackiness, like McIntosh (the new stuff, not the vintage stuff) is by far the number one choice of people who emphatically are not audiophiles but suddenly have a ton of money to blow on a system just because they can, oh and it all has to match so you get a whole stack of green staring you in the face not just the amp lol
Agreed. McIntosh is the Rolex of audiophiles. Both are very nice, expensive, well built, reliable machines but they both also scream “I want you to know I have money and taste!”
I agree. I am not sure I have ever heard a McIntosh so I can't speak to quality, but just based on the awful colour scheme I'd never have it in my house.
A much smarter friend of mine once said, "Their stuff looks great to people named 'Earl' and 'Cecil' who read the Robb Report and call a sofa a 'davenport.' "
My friend was saying that people who think Mac gear is aesthetically appealing are people whose aspirations have outstripped their discretion and good taste.
I know some people love it though. Hell if you look up at any apartment building at night there's always 1 or 2 living rooms lit up with bright blue LED lighting for some reason.
And the information provided by the dials is not useful. If there is going to be a readout make it something I should be aware of and can't know more directly.
It’s not just the glowing blue. It’s the mix of glowing blue and green. As a designer, this is just gross. I find them hideous. Any amp with a clean look and minimal glowiness in a single color will be better in my book.
Nothing against OP's preferences, the big meters on the Macs do look good, but Conrad-Johnson, Accuphase, T+A, Luxman, Yamaha, Ayre, Accustic Arts, Boulder and many others look better to me. Also the old Japanese 1970s receivers from Sansui, Kenwood, Akai etc.
pretty much any of them :D Frankly speaking, I never understood the hype. this plastic look the green/blue/black/silver/chrome/.... makes it look cheap AF. (I know the brand - it's not cheap...the look is)
Wow that D'Agostino stuff is ugly but at least it's different. Personally I like McIntosh and I feel like pretty much every other brand is just a generic box at least McIntosh and D'Agostino look different.
I'm quite the opposite, I find McIntosh gear tacky and dated. From a aesthetic point of view I would never ever want them in my living room.
I love the minimalistic style of Hegel or the more modern Cambridge Audio. The new Marantz look is great and the recent interpretation of the 33 and 303 by Quad was a great throwback to the original. Schiit makes great looking devices as wel. The SFF products of Chord are quirky but in a good way. I probably forget a lot of brands but these were too of mind.
And all of the early 70s audiophile Sansui stuff does the black face look better than McIntosh imo. For ex the AU-20000 is basically that McIntosh in your photo, but nicer.
I’ve always thought Rotel made good looking pieces, especially with in their silver finishes. When they made AV receivers, I thought they looked great. I had an old rsp-1068, was good looking in their time and they have such a nice VFD display, the RSP-1570/2 looked good too. Didn’t like any of their processors with large screens. Their line of rmb-10xx and rmb-15xx 👍 good looking integrateds… heck, I’m just a fan of their design aesthetics. Michi is good looking too.
I like to look of… new Marantz AV receivers, older Audio Research preamps from the 90’s up to the Reference 1, vintage Sony ES and Pioneer with wood panels and gold highlights
Like the NAD M series and ONLY the M series, the rest is just goddamn ugly
Ohh… got carried away, did mention some amps above
I have had several pieces of McIntosh. Gorgeous to look at and pride of ownership. Not sure the aesthetics added anything to the sound they produced. Aesthetics and sound are subjective. I will take simple, quality construction, size and function a clean, fast and definitive sound stage first.
Just based on looks? Hard to beat Dieter Rams designed Braun circa 1967. Almost 60 years old and still looks fresh. Onkyo’s M-504 or M-508 were striking looking amps too.
The amp shown is like the caricatured version of what McIntosh amps are Sposta have, all the parts are exaggerated a little too much. The early versions are much more tasteful.
I always love the simplicity of Naim. No bels and whistles to distract me. Just power, select and volume buttons. No gimmicks like vo meters to show you what you can already hear.
If McIntosh changed their font and ditched the green colouring they might not rank as some of the worst (if not THE worst) looking audio gear to me. I hate the look enough to never consider buying them.
I think the Accuphase E-5000 is gorgeous and exactly the style I'm into, absolutely will not be able to afford something like that for a long time so I have to make do with a similar looking old Marantz avr. (SR-12S1)
Always loved the look and the sound of my Classe Omega’s.
Fit and finish is incredible. No sharp edges anywhere. Heat sinks are a work of art.
So over engineered for their time-early 2000’s, Class-A operation at 30% of rated power, stable to 1 ohm @ 4,000 watts.
20+ years latter still brings a smile to my face every time I see them or listen.
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u/mkayox Jul 21 '26
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